About the Work
In June 1840, Ludwig Metz travelled through Hessia, first to Frankenberg, then, after a short detour to Haina, on to Sachsenberg, Waldeck Castle, Fritzlar and Friedberg. He captured the Church of Our Lady in Frankenberg and the collegiate church of St. Peter zu Fritzlar in a series of precise drawings and detailed images, which document his great interest in Gothic architecture.
This fascination with the Middle Ages also defines the further studies in this sketchbook: the views of the cathedral and Kalsmunt Castle in Wetzlar, drawn in August 1840, or Hohenstein Castle near Frankfurt ‒ although some of them are also realised in almost identical form in a sketchbook by the older Friedrich Metz from the same year (see Inv. SG 2756, Städel Museum). According to the brothers’ dates, the depictions in question were made at slightly different times, so that a joint drawing on the spot can be ruled out. The similarity of the drawings with regard to both the chosen picture details and the perspectives is so striking, however, that they allow no other conclusion than that the young draughtsmen Friedrich and Ludwig Metz studied after the same models or even exchanged their sketchbooks occasionally in order to copy motifs of interest to them from one another.
The undated studies of Gothic buildings or architectural details from Frankfurt, Erfurt, Naumburg and Magdeburg, scattered between Hessian motifs, as well as the drawings of the churches in Stewkley, Buckinghamshire, of St. John in Wiltshire and of the collegiate church of St. Peter and Alexander in Aschaffenburg were probably based on other drawings.
For a full sketchbook description, please see “Research”.
